Belt-tightening tool.



No. 693,182. Y Patented Feb. n, |902.

H. w. sfToNE, 1n. BELT TIGHTENING TOOL.

(Application led Nnv. 13, 1900.)

` (No Model.)

TH: Nonms Perma PHOTO-urne.. wAsHmaiON. I:4 I;

UNITED STATES ,PATENT OEEICE.

HEMAN VARD STONE, JR., OF MORRIS, MINNESOTA. I

BELT-TIGHTENING Tool.,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 693,182, datedFebruary11, 1902.

Application filed November 13, 1900,. Serial No. 36,407. (No model.)

T0 if/ZZ whom,V ibm/ay' concern:

Be it known that I, HEMAN WARD STONE, J r., a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Morris, in the county of Stevens and State ofMinnesota, have invented a new and useful Belt-Tightening Tool, of whichthe following is a specification.

My present invention relates to a novel justment of the lever, whichwhen operatedy to further tighten the belt will at the beginning of itsmovement effectthe automatic release of the belt ends and at theopposite limit` of its movement will automatically reestablish theconnection to prevent loosening of the belt while the lever is beingread j usted for further operation. l

To the accomplishment of the obj ect stated Y andAothers subordinatethereto, as will hereinafter more fullyappear, the invention consists inthe construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described,illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and defined in the appendedclaims.

In said'drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my tool, showing theparts in the positions they assume at the beginning of the operation.Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the subject-matter of Fig. 1,illus-'rV trating in dotted lines the positions of the parts after thetighteninglever has been moved a sufficient distance to effect thedisconnection ofthe belt-plates. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2,showing the lever after it has been swung a sufficient distance to ad-Vancev the plates and tightenV the belt and showing in dotted lines themanner in which the upper platemoves into engagement with th'elowerplate to prevent slacking of the belt whilev the lever is being readjusted for a repetition of the tightening operation. Fig. 4 is a detailperspective view of the male beltplate. Fig. 5is a sectional view of aslightlyinodified form of mydevice, in which the stud when engaged withthe female plate is disposed in such angular relation thereto as willpermit its disengagement by the movement of the lever from a positionapproximately at i right angles to the plate.

Referring to the numerals employed to designate corresponding partsthroughout the views, l and 2 indicate the ends ot the belt which isdesired to be tightened by the use of my tool. The tool comprises threeelementsa pair of beltplates 3 and 4, preferably in the form ofelongated metal straps, and the tightening lever 5. The plates 3 and 4are provided at their outer ends with apertures G for the reception ofthe bolts V'7, by means' of.

which the plates are secured to the belt at suitable distances from thepoint at which it is desired to make the joint or permanently connecttheends ofthe belt. The normal positions of the platesl at the beginning ofthe operation is such that their inner ends overlap somewhat, as shownin Fig. 1 offthe drawings, to enable the 'retaining-stud 8 of the maleplate or member 3 to fit into one of a series of openings 9 49a 9b 9F,dac., piercing the female plate et in spaced relation. In order toelevate' the plate 3 somewhat above the face of the platea for thepurpose vof separating the fulcrum' and load points of the lever, aswill'hereinaft'er'appear, `the plate 3 Ais'of slightly angular form,'and its inner end is curved toward the plate 4, as indicated at 10, inorder that its end edgewill constitute 'a bearing-face 11,resting datupon the face of the plate and permitting the retaining-stud 8, whichextends fromthegcenter of the face l1, to be disposed in a planesubstantially at right angles to the plates in order that it4 mayengagethe openings. At a point somewhat removed from its inner extremity theplate 3 is provided'with a longitudinally-dis posed slot 12, throughwhich is passed the reduced bearing end 13 of the lever 5. This bearingend is bounded by a straight smooth bearing-face 14, at one'end of whichis dis-y posed a shoulder l5 and atthe opposite end a bearing hook orbeak 16, the concavity 17 of which is merged inV an inclined edge face18, between which and, the 4bearing-face 14 the reducedend of the leveris defined.

As shown in Fig. 1, the belt-plates are se-,

cured by the bolts 7 to opposite end portions IOO.

of the belt,and the retaining-stud 8 is passed into the aperture 9a. Thebearing end of the tightening-lever is then passed into the opening 9 inthe plate 4. The forward end 19 of the slot l2, located a short distancein the rear of the opening 9, will now become the secondarybearing-point of the lever 5,the primary bearing-point of which isformed at the connection between the beak 16 and plate 4. Vith the partsin this position the bearingface 14 of the lever will be disposed at anobtuse angle to the plate 4, as shown in Fig. l of the drawings. lf nowthe upper end of the lever is grasped by the operator and moved to theposition indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the first effect of suchmovement will be to advance the plates in opposite directionssufficiently to relieve the tension upon the retaining-stud 8,whichtension will now be sustained by the lever, and the stud being free willas the lever is moved forward become disengaged from the opening 9a topermit further movement of the lever-as, for instance, to the positionindicated in full lines in FigS--to draw or tighten the beltsufficiently7 to advance the retaining-stud 8 to a position over thenext opening 91. In this position the angular relation of thebearing-face 14 with respect to the direction of strain imposed upon theplate 3 will be just the reverse of the angular position assumed by saidface at the beginning of the operation. Therefore further movement ofthe lever will urge the plate 3 toward the plate 4 and will cause thebearing-stud 8 to pass into the opening 9b. A connection having now beenestablished between the two plates, the belt will be retained againstslacking, and the lever may be disengaged from the opening 9 and engagedwith the opening 9, which, as we have seen, hasjust been vacated by theretaining-stud 8. Thus theinitial movement of the lever firstautomatically effects the disengagement of the beltplates, then urgesthe plates in opposite directions to take up the slack, the shoulder l5constituting a stop for preventing undue separation of the plates, andfinally automatically effects the rengagement of the plates to retainthe belt against slacking while the lever is being readjusted for arepetition of the operation.

I have described my device as applied for the tightening of conveyer orother belts of analagous classes; but it is evident that the devicemight be used with equal facility in Adrawing up and securing the endsof metallic bands or ties of various kinds, in which case thepeculiarities of construction which have been defined as characteristicof the plates 3 and 4 would be imparted to the ends of the band, theoperation of tightening being identical with that heretofore described.For this reason I wish the term plates employed in the claims to beunderstood as comprehending either a pair of separate plates designedfor attachment to the ends of the band to be tightened or the ends ofthe band itself, it

being immaterial whether the plates are separate from'or integral withthe bandwhich is to be tightened.

In Fig. 5 l have illustrated a slightly-modified form of my device, inwhich the stud is disposed at such an angle as will permit itsdisengagement to be effected by the initial movement of the lever from aposition `substantially at a right angle to the plates, and it isobvious that instead of the lever assuming this right-angular positionat the beginning of its movement it might be adapted with equal facilityto extend approximately at right angles to the plates at the completionof its movement, in which event the male plate might be moved laterallyby hand' to effect its rengagement with the female plate.

It will appear-from the foregoing thatl have invented a simple,inexpensive, and effective tool by means of which a belt, band, binder,or the like may be tightened to any desired extent without othermanipulation than such as is necessary to operate a tightening-lever;but while the present embodiment of my invention appears at this time tobe preferable it is obviously susceptible of many changes, p

modifications, and variations respecting both the form and arrangementof the parts. l therefore desire to reserve to myself the right toeffect such variations of the illustrated cmbodiment of the invention asmay be suggested by experience and experiment, so long as they arefairly embraced within the scope of the protection prayed.

l. A belt-tightening device comprising a pair of plates, one of whichengages the other to hold the same against relative movement, and asingle member for eecting the release of the plates, for moving them inopposite directions, and for effecting their rengagement at a dierentpoint.

2. A belt-tightening device comprising a pair of plates, one of whichdirectly engages the other to hold the same against relative movement,and a tightening-lever directly engaging each of said plates to movethem laterally for the purpose of effecting their disengagement, tothereafter move the plates longitudinally to tighten the belt, andfinally, to eect the rengagement of the plates at a different point.

3. A tightener comprising a pair of plates provided with coperatingretaining means, and a tightening-lever having terminal engagement withone plate and provided with a plain bearing-face engaged by the otherplate,whereby the movement of the lever from one angular position willeect the disen gagement of the plates and will thereafter move theplates in opposite directions, and in a reverse angular position willcause one of the plates to advance along the inclined bearingface toeect the rengagement of the plates at an advanced point.

4. A tightener comprising a female plate provided with a series ofopenings, a male IOC IIO

plate provided with a lateral projection designed to engage saidopenings, and also provided with a slot, and a tightening -lever passedthrough the slot and having a plain bearing-face sustaining the strainnpon the male plate and provided with a terminal beak engaging anopening in the female plate, whereby the initial movement of the leverwill canse the male plate to recede from the female plate to effect thewithdrawal of the projection, and whereby the rengagement of saidprojection is effected by such movement of the lever aslwill establish.areverse angular'relation of the bearing-face to cause the male plate toapproach the female plate.

5. A tightener comprising a female plate provided with a series ofopenings, an angular male plate provided with a curved end having aretaining-stud extending toward the female plate, said male plate beingprovided with a slot, and a tightening-lever provided with a terminalbeak engaging an opening in `the female plate and having a plainbearingface opposed to the end wall of the slot of the male'plate andterminating in a shoulder designed to limit the movement of the maleplate in onedirection.

6. A tightener comprising a pair of plates provided with coperatingretaining means, a tightening-lever arranged to move the plates bothlaterally and longitudinally to cause the tightening of a belt and toeffect the disengagement and rengagement of the retaining means, andmeans carried by the lever for limiting the lateral movement f one ofthe plates.

7. The combination with a pair of plates, of a tightening-lever designedto constitute the sole tightening member and provided with a beak forengagement With one of said plates, and with a plain bearing-surfaceterminating in a shoulder designed to 'limit the lateral movement of theother plate.

8. A belt-tightening device comprising a pair of plates disposed fordirect engagement with each other, and a tightening device engaging oneplate and having a plain face in engagement with the other plate, saidface being disposed at an angle to cause said lastnamed plate to slideuponsaid face to effect the disengagement of the plates during theinitial movement of the device, and said face being disposed at adifferent angle during the final movement of the tightening device tocause the rengagement of the plates at a different point. V

In testimony that I claim-the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HEMAN WARD sipna, JR.

Witnesses:

R. A. STONE, H. H. WELLS.

